Lamp assembly



B. COHON LAMP ASSEMBLY Aug. 6, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 20, 1965 INVENTOR. BERTRAM COHON I'." .llulllllllllmll,

ITTOR/WSYS g- 6, 1963 B. COHON 3,396,268

LAMP ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 20, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. BERTRAM COHON United States Patent 3,396,268 LAMP ASSEMBLY Bertram Cohan, Hackensack, NJ. C. N. Barman C0., 781 River St., Paterson, NJ. 07524) Filed Oct. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 498,736 Claims. (Cl. 240-81) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lamp assembly which has a spider bracket surrounding the socket and supporting a pellucid bowl and shade assembly. The spider bracket has three arms equally spaced around its perimeter and extending upwardly to form a cup in which the socket is mounted. The bowl is supported on the upper ends of the bracket arms and the shade rests on top of the bowl such that the socket along with both the interior and exterior of the bowl is cooled by free convection.

This invention relates to a lamp assembly for table and other types of lamps.

It is the primary object of my invention to provide in a lamp, a lamp assembly which includes a translucent bowl which surrounds an incandescent light bulb in the lamp so as to diffuse the light of said bulb, and a laterally slotted multi-armed spider bracket which detachably supports the bowl within the lamp in a proper location, the foregoing assembly eliminating the husks and harps which are conventional in lamps.

It is a further object of my invention to provide in a lamp, a lamp assembly including a diffuser bowl and a laterally slotted multi-armed spider bracket, both of the character described, which further support a lamp shade in a mechanically simpler and more convenient and attractive manner than a conventional lamp bracket and harp.

It is a further object of my invention to provide in a lamp, a lamp assembly including a diffuser bowl, a laterally slotted multi-armed spider bracket and a lamp shade wherein the lamp shade and bowl may be shipped unattached to the bracket, the latter being secured to a lamp body, from their place of manufacture and thereafter be readily and quickly assembled into proper engagement by untrained labor at a retail store thus reducing the amount of shipping and storage space required and the shades and bowls of several lamps may be nestably stacked.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide in a lamp, a lamp assembly including a diffuser bowl and a bracket, both of the character described, wherein the bracket and the bowl can be interengaged and locked by bayonet-type coupling means, said means permitting of easy engagement and disengagement between said components.

It is yet a further object of my invention to provide in a lamp, a lamp assembly including a diffuser bowl and a bracket, both of the character described, wherein said components while eliminating the husks and harps of conventional lamps yet retain the charcteristic upstanding arms of previous harp brackets so that a consumer will be prone to purchase a product with whose figuration he is familiar.

It is still another object of my invention to provide in a lamp, a lamp assembly permiting use of a diffuser lightbulb-encircling bowl of conventional synthetic plastics which are deleteriously affected by heat, e.g. by warping, sagging, charring, melting and discoloration, said use being attained by convectively inducing a vertically rising annular column of cool air between the light bulb and a bowl, said air entering the assembly between the arms of the bracket and flowing into an opening in the bottom of the bowl and through the bowl, the bowl being attached to the bracket.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide in a lamp, a lamp assembly including a diffuser bowl and a bracket, both of the character described, which constitute a construction for the lamp which is sturdy and capable of long use, which is few in number of parts, which is capable of manufacture through mass production techniques, which is attractive in appearance and which can therefore be marketed to the buying public at a relatively low cost.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the lamp assemblies hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which I have shown three of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational partially cross-sectional and partially broken away view of a table lamp, the lamp including a lamp assembly incorporating my invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded and partially broken away perspective view of the lamp illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary and greatly enlarged partially broken away perspective view of the lower portion of a diffuser bowl and tripod spider bracket which are components of my invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the tip of one of the arms of the spider bracket and an arcuate slot in the lower portion of the diffuser bowl similar to FIG. 3 but showing these components in locked condition rather than in the unlocked condition of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary and partially broken away perspective view of the lower portion of a diffuser bowl and a tripod spider bracket in a second embodiment of my invention; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary and partially broken away perspective view of the tip of the arm of a tripod spider bracket and a lower portion of a diffuser bowl in still a third embodiment of my invention.

In general, and in accordance with the teaching of my invention, I provide a lamp assembly as part of and for use with several other conventional components of a lamp. More specifically, the conventional lamp components include a lamp body which is adapted to stand on any flat horizontal surface, a socket adapted to receive and electrically contact an incandescent light bulb and a lamp shade.

My lamp assembly includes a diffuser bowl which is located so as to surround the light bulb and -a tripod spider bracket which holds the diffuser bowl in its proper location on the lamp body The diffuser bowl has a top rim which supports the lamp shade in a conventional position.

The spider bracket includes an annular base and three similar upstanding arms rising from and equiangularly spaced on said base. The diffuser bowl preferably is of an open cup shape and has a central opening in its bottom portion through which the electric socket of the lamp passes. The tips of the arms of the spider bracket constitute coupling members which engage other coupling members on the lower portion of the diffuser bowl via a bayonet-type lock. The diffuser bowl is fixed to the tips of the spider bracket by first inserting said tips into said lower portion and then rotating the tips relative to the bowl so that the coupling members are locked or unlocked in a quick and simple manner. The spider bracket and the diffuser bowl eliminate the husk and harp of a 3 conventional lamp and replace it with a mechanically positive assembly which permits storage and transport of the shades and bowls in nested stacks separate from the other assembled components of the lamps and which lends itself to quick assemblage when desired.

The upstanding arms of the spider bracket resemble the bracket of a conventional lamp harp in that view is permitted of the electric socket which is typical of conventional lamps and so that purchasers are afforded an assembly which, though novel in concept and structure, yet has a familiar appearance. Moreover the arms form clear spaces therebetween to allow introduction of cooling air into the open bottom of the bowl.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral denotes a lamp, more particularly a table lamp, which includes a lamp assembly incorporating my invention. It will be appreciated that my lamp assembly may be incorporated into other types of lamps as well, as for example into wall lamps and floor lamps. The lamp 10 includes a number of conventional lamp components including a hollow lamp body 12 having a base configuration adapted to rest upon any flat horizontal surface so as to support the lamp in erect and stable condition, The body 12 illustrated is but one of numerous designs which may be utilized with the present invention and said body has a generally conical upwardly converging form, an upwardly arched centrally apertured circular floor 14 and a fiat centrally apertured circular top wall 16. A tubular metal pipe 18 passes vertically through the lamp body and the ends of the pipe protrude through the small central apertures in the floor 14 and top wall 16. The lower end 20 of the pipe 18 is threaded and passes through the floor 14 to engage a nut 22 on the under side of the floor 14. A standard electrical socket 24 of the type adapted to threadably receive and electrically contact the threaded base of an incandescent light bulb 26 has a lower tapped tubular ferrule 28 which is adapted to be screwed on the upper threaded end 30 of the pipe 18. A standard power cord 32 passes from the exterior to the interior of the lamp body 12 up through the interior of the pipe 18 and to the conventional on/ off switch (not shown) within the socket 24. Said switch is controlled and manually operated by a protruding stem 34. The lamp 10 further includes a conventional (except for its frame) cylindrical lamp shade 36, said lamp shade having a metal radially spoked frame 38 at its upper end, which bridges the top of the lamp shade. The frame is specially formed for use with my lamp assembly.

The lamp assembly which constitutes my invention will be hereinafter referred to by the reference numeral 40 and includes two components, to wit, a diffuser bowl 42 and a spider bracket 44. The bowl 42 may be transparent or opaque but is preferably translucent to diffuse or bafile the light from the bulb 26 and is formed from any appropriate material conventional for such purposes. I prefer to use a synthetic resin due to the light Weight, easy moldability, low cost and sturdiness thereof, Either a thermosetting or a thermoplastic resin can be employed. The diffuser bowl 42 is cup shaped and includes an upwardly diverging conical wall 46, has an open circular top end 48 and a bottom portion, i.e., a floor 48, which is in a plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the diffuser bowl and which is closed except for a central aperture 50 and a number of slots 52.

The spider bracket 44 includes a number of and preferably three upstanding arms 54 which are in one piece with and which rise from an annular flat base 56. Each of the arms 54 is alike and said arms are equiangularly spaced on said base. A central opening 58 is formed in said base which is smaller than the outer diameter of the ferrule 28 but larger than the pipe 18.

It may be advantageously mentioned at this point that when the diffuser bowl 42 and the tripod spider bracket 44 are assembled into the lamp 10, the upper end of the socket 24 passes through the central aperture in the diffuser bowl floor, the socket is located centrally within the arms 54 of the spider bracket 44, the lower end of the ferrule 28 is seated upon the base 56, the upper end 30 of the pipe 18 passes through the aperture 58, and the base 56 of the bracket rests upon an optional spacer 60 which in turn rests upon the top wall of the lamp body 16. It will be apparent that proper assembly of the various mentioned components and threading of the nut 22 on the lower end 20 of the pipe 18 tightens and rigidifies the lamp. It should be noted that the central aperture in the fioor of the diffuser bowl is sufficiently larger in diameter than the socket 24 so as to permit free passage of air therebetween. This permits an updraft flow when the light bulb is energized which cools the bowl to prevent adverse effects that otherwise would take place in the plastic material of the bowl, Such air is admitted to the bowl through the lateral slots between the arms of the spider.

Describing the bracket in further detail, each of the arms 54 on the base 56 of the bracket 44 is channelshaped and has its open side facing the interior of said bracket. The arms and the base are configured to allow sufiicient space for reception, in the laterally slotted cup defined thereby of the socket. Each of the arms 54 has as its upper end a tip 60. The tips are coplanar and lie in a circle perpendicular to the pipe 18 and the axis of symmetry of the bracket 44 passes through the center of said circle. Each tip 60 has formed therein a transverse radially inwardly facing groove 62, said groove being defined by the horizontal end wall 64 of the tip 60, by a part of the vertical back wall 66 of said tip and by rectangular three-sided laterally aligned openings 68 in both of the vertical side walls 70 of the tip. The grooves 62 in the tips 60 of the arms 54 lie in a circle through which the axis of symmetry of the bracket 44 centrally passes.

As has been mentioned previously, the floor 48 of the diffuser bowl 42 includes a number of and preferably three like slots 52, each of the slots being arcuate, keyhole shaped and equiangularly spaced about the central aperture 50. The slots lie on a common circle coincident with the aperture 50. The number of slots is the same as the number of arms, and each slot is associated with a different arm when the bracket and diffuser bowl are assembled.

Each keyhole slot 52 has at a like end an enlarged opening or portion 72 of a sufl'icient area to permit entry of the end wall 64 of a tip of an arm. Each slot 52 has immediately adjacent to it a like camming surface 74 which is an upwardly facing wall of a ramp 76 rising from the floor 48. Each ramp 76 is located at the end of its associated slot opposed to the end at which the enlarged portion 72 of said slot is located and adjacent the interior side of said slot. Each camming surface rises away from the enlarged portion and up from the floor 48 to an elevated location.

The tips 60 of the arms 54 and the keyhole slots 52 constitute coupling means of the bayonet type. The bracket 44 and the floor of the diffuser bowl are quickly and easily interconnected by first inserting the tips 60 of the arms through the enlarged portions 72 of the slots 52, each tip going through the single enlarged opening in a different slot. After the tips have been inserted, the diffuser bowl is rotated relative to the bracket and in the direction indicated by the arrow A of FIG. 3. The height of the grooves 62 is greater than the thickness of the floor 48. As said diffuser bowl is rotated, the interior walls of the slots (segments of the floor 48) pass along the grooves and then the camming surfaces 74 of the ramps 76 enter into the grooves 62. Further rotation of the diffuser bowl wedges said ramps into said grooves and a frictional lock is attained. To this end, it is obvious that the vertical dimension from the bottom face of the floor 48 to the highest point of the ramp 76 is greater than the height of the groove 62.

The diffuser bowl is disassembled and separated from the bracket 44 by converse movement, that is, by rotating the diffuser bowl in a relatively opposed direction and then withdrawing said tips from their affiliated slots through the enlarged portions of said slots.

Stop means prevents the tips 60 from axially entering the slots 52 beyond a predetermined point. To this end, in each arm the lower wall 78 defining each opening 68 in each of the tips 60 has a greater front to back dimension than does the upper wall 80 of each opening and said front to back dimension is greater than the front to back dimension of the enlarged portion 72 of each keyhole slot. Accordingly, when each tip 60 is inserted into an enlarged portion 72 of a slot, the lower wall 78 is too large to pass through said portion and instead aligns the groove 62 in proper horizontal location with respect to the interior wall of the slot as well as the ramp 76 as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 illustrates the interengaged and frictionally locked condition of the bracket and bowl.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of my invention including a bracket 44 of the same general configuration as the bracket 44 having three upstanding arms 54'. The assembly also includes a diffuser bowl 42. The outline of an electrical socket 24 within the bracket is shown in dot and dash lines.

The diffuser bowl 42 has a depending lower annular wall 82 and six horizontal spaced like arcuate ledges (wall surfaces) 84 project radially inwardly from the inside face of said wall. Openings 86 separate the ledges 84 and are of sufficiently large dimension to admit the tips 60' of the arms 54'. Each ledge 84 carries a ramp 88 located on the ledge at a position somewhat distant from the opening 86 associated with said ledge 84. Each ramp has an upwardly facing camming surface 90 and each of the camming surfaces slopes upwardly from the upper face of its associated ledge 84 and away from the opening 86 associated with said ledge.

Each tip has an outwardly facing transverse groove 92 formed therein, each groove being a rectangular through slot in the outer wall of an arm 54. The height of each groove 92 is greater than the height of a ledge 84 but is less than the combined height of a ledge and a ramp 88 at the latters thickest portion. The tips 60' of the arms 54 may be entered through any three alternate openings 86 and then be rotated relative to the diffuser bowl 42 so that the grooves 92 in the arms pass along assocaited ledges and then meet the ramps 88 associated with the ledges. Further rotation of the arms 54 wedges the ramps between the walls of the grooves and thereby couples the tripod spider bracket to the lower portion of the bowl. Rotation of these components in an opposite direction and then withdrawal of the tips through the openings will disengage the diffuser bowl from the bracket. Adjacent each opening 86 and vertically above said opening is an overhang 94, and each overhang prevents entry of the tip of an arm beyond a point at which the groove of the arm upon rotation will slide along the ledge 84. The overhangs constitute stop means limiting entry of the tips of the bracket 44'. A downwardly extending leg 95 at the trailing edge of each stop prevents incorrect reverse rotation of the bowl and tips. The foregoing arrangement provides a larger central aperture 50 to permit an even easier upward flow of cooling air.

The lamp shade 36 is supported in its proper position in the lamp by the diffuser bowl 42 (see FIG. 1). The lamp shades spoked frame 38 includes a circular hoop 100 located in a tunnel 101 formed in the upper rim of the lamp shade and three like wire spokes 102 running from the hoop radially inwardly to a central ring 104. Each spoke includes a radially outward substantially vertical leg 106 and a radially inward substantially horizontal leg 108 and at the juncture of the legs a downwardly opening bend 110 is formed. The bends 110 are positioned to overlie the upper rim of the open top end of the difiuser bowl, thereby supporting the lamp shade on the bowl and in proper location in the lamp.

FIG. 6 illustrates yet another embodiment of my invention similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, the ramp 96 of each ledge 84 is coplanar with and protrudes radially inwardly from said ledge so that upon insertion and rotation of the three tips 60', the camming surfaces 98 of said ramps wedging- 1y engage the bases of the slots, thus effecting a locked condition. Stops 112 at the high ends of the ramps 96 protrude radially inwardly to be engaged by the sides of the arms 54 in order to limit rotary locking movement of the bowl 42'.

It will thus be seen that I have provided lamp assemblies which achieve the several objects of my invention and which are well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention and as various changes might be made in the embodiments set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a lamp, in combination, a lamp body, an electrical socket adapted to receive and electrically contact a light bulb, a pellucid bowl fabricated of a plastic that is deleteriously affected by heat, a spider bracket surround ing the socket and mounted on the body coaxially with the socket, the bottom end of the spider bracket being supported on the lamp body and the bottom end of the socket being supported on the bottom end of the spider bracket, a lamp shade supported by and circumscribing the bowl, the spider bracket including at least three like erect arms extending upwards from the bottom end of the spider bracket and each having a tip, said spider bracket constituting a cup with lateral slots defined by the arms and through which the socket is exposed and inflow of air is admitted, and the bowl including an annular bottom portion through which the socket passes, said annular portion being of larger diameter than the external diameter of the socket to form an annular space through which air is admitted by the cup by convectively induced flow to cool the bowl and inhibit deleterious heating effects, and coupling means for detachably securing the tips of the arms to the bottom portion of the bowl.

2. In a lamp, in combination, a lamp body, an electrical socket adapted to receive and electrically contact a light bulb, a pellucid bowl fabricated of a plastic that is deleteriously affected by heat, a spider bracket surrounding the socket and mounted on the body coaxially with the socket, the bottom end of the spider bracket being supported on the lamp body and the bottom end of the socket being supported on the bottom end of the spider bracket, the spider bracket including at least three like erect arms extending upwards from the bottom end of the spider bracket and each having a tip, said spider bracket constituting a cup with lateral slots defined by the arms and through which the socket is exposed and infiow of air is admitted, and the bowl including an annular bottom portion through which the socket passes, said annular portion being of larger diameter than the external diameter of the socket to form an annular space through which air is admitted by the cup by convectively induced flow to cool the bowl and inhibit deleterious heating effects, and coupling means for detachably securing the tips of the arms to the bottom portion of the bowl.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the bowl is made of a synthetic plastic.

4. For use in a lamp including a socket adapted to receive and electrically contact a light bulb, in combination, a spider bracket and a pellucid bowl fabricated of a plastic that is deleteriously affected by heat, said bracket including a base and at least three like upright arms equiangularly spaced apart to permit view of the socket and to admit air, said bowl having a bottom end with an opening larger than the socket through which air admitted by the bracket rises by convectively induced how to cool the bowl and inhibit deleterious heating effects, and rapidly attachable and detachable means for coupling the spider bracket to the bowl, said coupling means including at least three like pairs of equiangularly spaced interengageable coupling members, one member of each pair being located on the bowl at a lower portion thereof and the other member of each pair being located on the bracket and constituting the tip of an arm of the bracket, the members of each pair being interengageable by, firstly, approach of the members of a pair and secondly, relative rotation of the members of a pair to a locking position.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein the bowl is made of a synthetic plastic.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein each of the coupling members on the bracket includes a lateral groove on a tip and each of the coupling members on the lower portion of the bowl includes an arcuate keyhole slot in the wall of the bowl, each of said slots being configured to receive and lock with the groove of a tip.

7. A combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein each of the coupling members on the bracket includes a lateral groove on a tip and each of the coupling members on the lower portion of the wall of the bowl includes an arcuate surface, each of said grooves being configured to engage an arcuate surface.

8. A combination as set forth in claim 7 wherein stop means is provided to prevent movement of the tips with respect to the arcuate surfaces beyond a point at which the grooves are aligned with said surfaces.

9. For use in a lamp including a socket adapted to receive and electrically contact a light bulb, in combination, a spider bracket and a pellucid bowl fabricated of a plastic that is deleteriously affected by heat, said bracket including a base and at least three like upright arms equiangularly spaced apart to permit view of the socket and to admit air, said bowl having a bottom end with an opening. larger than the socket through which air admitted by the bracket rises by convectively induced flow to cool the bowl and inhibit deleterious heating effects, and rapidly attachable and detachable means for coupling the spider bracket to the bowl, said coupling means including at least three like pairs of equiangularly spaced interengageable coupling members, one member of each pair being located on the bowl at a lower portion thereof and the other member of each pair being located on the bracket and constituting the tip of an arm of the bracket,

the members of each pair being interengageable by, firstly, approach of the members of a pair and secondly, relative rotation of the members of a pair to a locking position, each of the coupling members on the bracket including a lateral groove on a tip and each of the coupling members on the lower portion of the bowl including a ramp, each of said grooves being configured to wedgingly interengage with a ramp.

10. For use in a lamp including a socket adapted to receive and electrically contact a light bulb, in combination, a spider bracket and a pellucid bowl fabricated of a plastic that is deleteriously affected by heat, said bracket including a base and at least three like upright arms equiangularly spaced apart to permit view of the socket and to admit air, said bowl having a bottom end with an opening larger than the socket through which air admitted by the bracket rises by convectively induced flow to cool the bowl and inhibit deleterious heating effects, and rapidly attachable and detachable means for coupling the spider bracket to the bowl, said coupling means including at least three like pairs of equiangularly spaced interengageable coupling members, one member of each pair being located on the bowl at a lower portion thereof and the other member of each pair being located on the bracket and constituting the tip of an arm of the bracket, the members of each pair being interengageable by, firstly, approach of the members of a pair and secondly, relative rotation of the members of a pair to a locking position, each of the coupling members on the bracket including a lateral groove on a tip and each of the coupling members on the lower portion of the wall of the bowl including an arcuate surface, each of said grooves being configured to engage an arcuate surface, the grooves facing radially outward of the bracket, and ramps on the arcuate surfaces, said ramps being coplanar with said arcuate surfaces and projecting radially inwardly, each of said grooves being configured to engage an arcuate surface and then a ramp.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,331,010 2/1920 Gay 24098 2,247,771 7/1941 Crellin 240125 2,605,389 7/ 1952 Kimball 24047 FOREIGN PATENTS 634,390 l/ 1962 Canada.

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner.

M. H. HAYES, Assistant Examiner. 

